Law Enforcement

President Obama recently directed Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson to examine U.S. immigration enforcement policies to see how the department can "conduct enforcement more humanely within the confines of the law. " The answer to the president's directive is surprisingly simple: Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement division, known as ICE, should eliminate "non-criminal re-entrants and immigration fugitives" as a priority...

The Transportation Security Administration is calling for an increased police presence at agency checkpoints after November's deadly shooting at LAX, according to a report obtained Wednesday. The agency's assessment covers 14 recommendations relating to employee training, improved emergency technology and law enforcement presence that will be implemented at airports nationwide. TSA Administrator John Pistole told The Times it was a “measured response” to the Nov. 1 attack at LAX in which one officer was killed and three other people were wounded.

Law enforcement agenices in Mendocino County and surrounding areas searched Wednesday for armed suspects who shot a deputy, media in Northern California reported. Mendocino County law enforcement officials closed Highway 1 near MacKerricher State Park by Fort Bragg in response to a police pursuit and officer-involved shooting, the Press Democrat reported. Sheriff's officials did not divulge further information but said they would hold a press conference at 5 p.m. Wednesday in Fort Bragg, the newspaper said.

WASHINGTON -- A review of the emails and a search of a home flight simulator have found nothing so far to suggest the pilots on the missing plane purposely compromised the flight by diverting it away from Beijing, according to two U.S. law enforcement officials. “Nothing stuck out,” said one of the sources, who was briefed on the search conducted by Malaysian officials. He said authorities sought to find out whether the pilot, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, might have been training on the simulator, specifically how to turn off the transponders and other in-flight devices before the March 8 flight.

An in-depth report that critiques the response of public safety agencies and airport officials to November's deadly shooting at Los Angeles International Airport will be released to the public Tuesday. The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, which sets policy for LAX, LA/Ontario International Airport and Van Nuys Airport, is scheduled to discuss the review during a special meeting that begins at noon. Earlier in the morning, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is also scheduled to address the evaluation at a news conference.

At the top of the big whiteboard in his office, Andre Birotte Jr. has written "BHAGS," by which he means his aspirations as U.S. attorney for seven Southern California counties: "big hairy audacious goals. " He's already hit some audacious personal goals, this son of Haitian immigrants. He's made his way from the L.A. public defender's office to inspector general of the Los Angeles Police Department to private practice, and, since 2010, to chief of the most populous U.S. attorney's district in the nation.

GOLDEN, Colo. - The instructions seemed simple enough: nine steps forward, heel to toe, a quick turnaround, then nine steps back. But for the guy swaying a bit as he walked, his face slack, his eyes half closed, it was all too much. He made the nine steps forward and stopped, forgetting what came next. "Wait. What?" Colorado State Trooper Jason Morales dutifully marked it down in his report, just as he had a few minutes earlier when the suspect closed his eyes and tilted his head back to guess the passage of 30 seconds.

SACRAMENTO - California lawmakers for years have been battling ravenous metal thieves, who pull copper wires out of street lights, grab rebar from construction sites, and steal pumps and other costly equipment from farmers' fields. Now, a bipartisan group of legislators led by Assemblyman Brian Nestande (R-Palm Desert), is trying to put more manpower and money into the fight. Nestande's bill, AB 2313, would create a metal theft task force within the attorney general's office that would provide grants to local police and prosecutors.

It looks like the U.S. Border Patrol has opted for a policy of common sense. As The Times editorial page wrote last week , and the news pages documented earlier , federal agents patrolling the Mexican border have been involved in dozens of confrontations in which agents stepped in front of moving cars as a pretext to open fire in self-defense, and also responded to rocks thrown at them across the border with deadly fire. Border Patrol chief Michael J. Fisher on Friday told his agents to knock it off, though not in so many words.

WASHINGTON -- The head of the U.S. Border Patrol announced new rules Friday to limit agents from shooting at moving vehicles or people throwing rocks or other objects at agents, reversing a controversial policy that has led to at least 19 deaths. Border Patrol Chief Michael J. Fisher ordered customs and border agents not to step directly in front of a moving vehicle, or use their body to block it, in order to open fire on the driver. He also barred shooting at vehicles whose occupants are fleeing from agents.